University of Georgia Athletics
Women's Long Jump An All-Georgia Affair
May 01, 2016 | Track & Field
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
The women's long jump at Saturday's Georgia Invitational at Spec Towns Track featured competitors from numerous schools, but it was mostly a look at the Bulldogs' past, present and future.
There were the current Georgia jumpers: sophomores Keturah Orji and Mady Fagan, junior Kendell Williams and senior Chanice Porter. There were a pair of former Bulldogs in Quintunya Chapman and Xenia Rahn, and there was a future Bulldog in recent transfer signee Kate Hall -- all three were competing unattached in the meet.
"It was actually fun competing against all of them together," Orji said. "It was just like practice."
Orji's best event is the triple jump -- her mark of 46 feet, 3.50 inches earlier this year is the best by an American and more than two feet longer than anyone else in Division I -- but she's strong in the long jump, as well, even if it doesn't come as easily for her.
"I'm definitely more confident about the triple, because if I mess up in the triple I know how to fix it," she said. "In the long jump, I can mess up and I don't know how to fix it. I'm not as knowledgable in the long jump. I definitely have to think about it more."
Halfway through Saturday's women's long jump the skies opened up and a heavy rain poured down on the competitors, the runway and the pit. When Georgia coach Petros Kyprianou wasn't busy agonizing over every one of the current and former Bulldogs' jumps, he was furiously sweeping water off the runway.
Orji won the meet with a jump of 21-6, beating Hall by four inches. Hall, from Maine, broke the U.S. Junior National record in the long jump with a leap of 22-5, before starting her collegiate career at Iowa State during the indoor season this winter.
Porter, who placed third with a leap 21-1.5, posted an NCAA Regional qualifying mark, along with Orji. Williams, a multiple multi-event NCAA champion, placed fourth with a jump of 20-0.5. Rahn placed sixth (19-10.75), Chapman seventh (19-7) and Fagan eighth (19-0.75).
It was Porter's first long jump competition of the outdoor season and she only attempted two jumps Saturday. For Williams, Porter and all of Georgia's top athletes, the meet was part of their postseason preparation. The SEC Outdoor Championships are May 12-14, the NCAA East Preliminary Round starts May 26 and the NCAA Outdoor Championships begin June 8.
And don't forget that this is an Olympic year, so for the American athletes on Georgia's squad that qualify the Olympic Trials, those begin July 1. And the Summer Olympics in Rio begin Aug. 5.
"This year because it's an Olympic year, we have to make sure we pick and choose meets correctly because you don't want to be too tired," Orji said. "I opened up my season a lot later than last year because I know I'm probably going to be competing until August. I've only done two meets leading up to the championship season, so we've set it up perfectly so that I'm competing, but not too much."
For Williams, the three-time NCAA Indoor pentathlon champion and 2014 NCAA Outdoor heptathlon champion, everything she's doing this spring is geared toward peaking in the months ahead. She's competing in individual events to get better, rather than put her body through the wear and tear of a lot of heptathlons.
On Saturday she also placed third in the shot put, posting an outdoor personal best of 43-6. It was her third personal best in an event in the past two weeks.
"I'm just doing individual events, which is nice because it gives you a chance to really specialize and to go up against super great competition in the individual events," Williams said.
There's no better practice than real competition.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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